Following its victory ending California’s “1-in-30” firearm purchase ban, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced that it has filed a new federal lawsuit to strike down New Jersey’s version of the law. The complaint is called Struck v. Platkin.
“This case presents a simple question of law,” states the lawsuit. “The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the right of the people to keep and bear Arms — plural — which shall not be infringed.”
FPC President Brandon Combs commented, “It’s been said that ‘as goes California, so goes the nation.’ In this case, California’s ban was properly declared unconstitutional and enjoined from enforcement following years of litigation, and so it will go with all such bans throughout the United States. We will force New Jersey and every other state to abide by the Second Amendment’s protections without exception.”
Further, the complaint says, “Plaintiffs wish to engage in constitutionally protected conduct by acquiring more than one handgun in a 30-day period for lawful purposes. But [New Jersey laws] and Defendants’ policies and enforcement practices prohibit and criminalizes this conduct.
“There is no question that the text of the Second Amendment covers the conduct the Plaintiffs wish to engage in and the arms they wish to acquire and possess. And “[w]hen the Second Amendment’s plain text covers an individual’s conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct. To justify its regulation, the government… must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with this Nation’s tradition of firearm regulation.”
In the Struck case, FPC is joined in the litigation by two FPC members, Matthew Struck, Daniel Francisco. Litigation counsel representing for gunowners’ rights are Raymond M. DiGuiseppe and Bradley P. Lehman.
Defendants representing the state are New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and New Jersey State Police Superintendent Patrick J. Callahan.
Click here to read the complaint.
